Case Studies Institutional

Some construction companies will try to build a hangar like they would a distribution facility for semi-trailer trucks, thinking the two buildings will require the same materials. But an aircraft can weigh over a hundred thousand pounds and that weight is concentrated on very small wheels. Jimmy Severson, director of business operations at Centrex Construction […]

In 2014, HESS Construction + Engineering Services Inc. (HESS) partnered with Grimm + Parker Architects to host faculty, staff, students, and parents of the newly constructed Wilson Wims Elementary School, located in Montgomery County, Marylan d, to partake in an event called Green Apple Day. The event, which partners with the United States Green Building […]

Of all things, McCarthy Building Companies is stocking up on shipping containers. The reason why? Safety. By opening the front and back doors of enclosed, conex-type containers, the company can use them as tunnels at worksite entrances, protecting workers from falling debris. Robert Coibion, chief estimator for McCarthy, says the idea came from one of […]

The hiring process at Martin-Harris Construction sounds like something you’d find at the CIA. New employees—known as associates—take personality tests so executives can group them into highly efficient teams with complementary personalities and skillsets. Though it doesn’t handle espionage or national security, the Las Vegas-based general contractor is remarkable for its sophistication, both because its […]

The idea of redeveloping the Baldwin Complex, and more importantly the former Baldwin manufacturing building, has been with Dan Neyer for decades. As the president and CEO of a Cincinnati-based commercial real estate developer called Neyer Properties, he’s kept an eye on the property, waiting for the right moment when he could return the building […]

Back when he was in high school, Brent Pence recalls hearing teachers tell students “you don’t want to be a ditch digger” all your life. His response now? That ditch digger may be making $35,000 or $40,000 a year, without going into overwhelming student debt. A fourth generation contractor, Pence honed his chops working for […]

People laugh when Jaime Quello tells them one of the businesses he respects most is McDonald’s. But he’s serious. Wherever you are, when you walk into a McDonald’s, it’s the same as all the others. The company doesn’t know if two people or 200 are going to show up for lunch, but regardless, they can […]

Dustin Seidel, owner of Seidel Construction, says the challenge of being completely transparent is sometimes telling his clients what they don’t want to hear. Seidel says he’s had clients come to his company full of ideas about the kind of building they want, without considering all the additional costs of new construction like the foundation, […]

A hundred years and it’s still going strong, but that hardly sums it up for S.M. Lawrence Company Inc., the full-service mechanical and electrical contractor that works predominantly in the southeast, but has also installed systems across the country, from Maine to Southern California. S.M Lawrence specializes in HVAC systems, electrical services, plumbing and piping […]

In the fall of 2016, the architecture firm, Steven Holl Architects, finished the exterior structure for an indescribable new library in Queens, New York. Located on the western edge of Long Island City, the library is right across from the United Nations Headquarters on the East River, and is unlike anything else on the waterfront. […]